The Fully-Equipped Geology Student

Lost Geologist posted a nice photo of himself fully equipped for the field, and it reminded me of my first attempt at drawing an illustration of my typical students at work from about 12 years ago. It was also my first attempt at designing web-pages, and is one of the archaic pages I never altered or took down. It also became a Geology Club t-shirt. Explanation of the various features follows....

Hair: Always messy. Females usually wear fashionable hats to hide bad hair days
Sunburned Peeling Nose: Forgot the #$%&*#! sunscreen again...
Beard: Used by males for long-term food storage...
The Ever-Present T-shirt and Logo: Entire life, philosophy and travels are displayed prominently on chest or back. Same function in general as bumper stickers on R.V.'s.
Belt and Buckle: Pants fit o.k., but samples tend to pull pants down, and something is needed to carry a rock hammer.
Deep Pockets: (not in the legal sense; geologists are both poor, and chintzy with money) Full of specimens. Keys and wallet usually carried in hands, only to be lost on sand dunes or inside of locked vans.
Assorted Scars and Bandages: Mashed fingers, scraped knees, and contusions from flying particles of rock constitute a rite of passage for most field geologists.
Rock Hammer: for specimen collecting, fighting off deerflies, self-defense, etc. Used in certain quasi-religious ceremonies (Such as bringing dead vans back to life).
Muscular, tanned legs: from hill climbing, rock scrambling, climbing in and out of vans.
Shoelaces: Usually knotted and broken: "wasn't that on the equipment list?"
Cool Socks!
Vibram Soles: for traction on rocks, mud, snow, and spilled oatmeal.
Ironclad Bladders: (not pictured) For 300 mile drives to geologic localities without stops.
Brunton Compass: to determine strike and dip, fault orientations, and locating nearest road, 'cause we are generally lost (coming soon: GPS receivers! We're gonna find the cars somehow!)
Eyes: Full of wisdom; but often confused: "What the heck is this?"
Brain: (not pictured) Dehydrated, half-baked, freeze-dried, poisoned, but always plotting the next trip. Limited aptitude for chemistry in many...

A bit of a confession on the genesis of the people...this was my first honest attempt at drawing pictures of persons who weren't stick figures. I used ink and everything, and when I presented the first draft to the geology club, there was a protest from the women in the group. They grabbed some white-out, and adjusted the woman's torso to a smaller size, and the waist and thighs a bit bigger. They said I needed to "get real". They didn't change the guy at all, though.